All the Gen Z statistics you could ever ask for, right at your fingertips

No matter your interest in Generation Z, here’s a list of crucial Z statistics you won’t want to miss.

You asked for it, in fact you demanded it — so here it is.

We’ve compiled key Gen Z statistics that speak to Gen Zers' needs, behaviors, quirks, traits, shopping preferences, attitudes, likes, dislikes and preferences as a cohort — consumer and/or otherwise.

By putting all the number-crunching under one roof, it’s our hope you’ll gain convenient, global insight into what members of Gen Z are looking for in terms of brands, advertising, technology, shopping, content consumption, finances, leisure time and social causes.

Without further ado, we invite you to take a long look at the numbers. Enjoy!

What does Gen Z want from brands?

65 percent of Gen Zs say they want real value for their money.¹
36 percent feel a strong loyalty or connection to a brand.¹
47 percent of Gen Zers who engaged with a brand feel dissatisfied or neutral about that brand’s response.¹
59 percent of Gen Zs trust the brands they grew up with.¹
44 percent of Gen Zs, if given the chance, would submit ideas for product designs.¹
On average, Gen Zers share twice as much positive feedback to brands as they share negative feedback.¹
62 percent of Gen Zs find themselves attracted to brands they view as “fun or cool.”¹
55 percent of Zs buy from brands they consider eco-friendly.¹
53 percent state their “favorite brand” is able to “understand them as an individual.”¹
45 percent are more favorable to brands that have been endorsed by celebrities or athletes.¹
76 percent of Gen Zers want brands to respond to their voices and feedback — and view "responsiveness" as a metric of a brand’s “authenticity.”¹

How does Gen Z feel about advertising?

The average Gen Zer's attention span for an ad is approximately eight seconds.¹³
56 percent of Gen Zers don’t click on ads when browsing websites.²
66 percent use only push notifications from certain apps, but not all. ²
65 percent have installed some form of ad-blocking technology.³
66 percent skip online ads whenever they can.³
12 percent are willing to pay for premium, ad-less services.³
36 percent will “do something else” while a digital ad is playing.³
20 percent of Gen Zers report that they “don’t mind [digital] ads.”³
47 percent of Gen Zers who have installed mobile ad-blocking technology state that the main reason for ad-blocking is “because ads interrupt me.”³
41 percent of Gen Zers who have installed mobile ad-blocking technology state that the main reason for ad-blocking is “because ads slow down my phone.”³
36 percent of Gen Zers who have installed mobile ad-blocking technology state that the main reason for ad-blocking is “because the ads aren’t relevant.”³
53 percent of Gen Zers enjoy cinema advertising.³
55 percent of Gen Zers enjoy outdoor advertising.³
51 percent of Gen Zers enjoy print magazine advertising.³
49 percent of Gen Zers enjoy newspaper advertising.³
48 percent of Gen Zers enjoy TV advertising.³
39 percent of Gen Zers enjoy radio advertising.³
54 percent of Gen Zers feel positive about online branded content.³
50 percent of Gen Zers respond well to ads placed in social news feeds.
45 percent of Gen Zers engage readily with native advertising formats and articles.³

What technologies does Gen Z use — and how?

97.6 percent of Gen Zs own a smartphone across North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.²
Nearly one quarter (22 percent) of Gen Zs use their smartphones 10+ hours per day.⁴
31 percent of Gen Zers don’t feel comfortable without having their phone for “30 minutes or less.”⁴
94 percent own a laptop.²
44.2 percent own a tablet.²
36.9 percent own a gaming console.²
30 percent own a desktop computer.²
17.6 percent make use of some form of fitness tracker.²
14.2 percent possess a Smartwatch.²
Only 3.5 percent of Gen Zs own virtual reality (VR) gear.²
87 percent of Gen Zs have access to high-speed WiFi at home.⁵
66 percent of Gen Zs report using more than one digital device simultaneously.⁵
49 percent of Gen Zs feel better socializing online rather than offline.⁵
Fewer than 30 percent of Gen Zs are willing to share their personal health, wellness or financial information online.⁵
58 percent of Gen Zs don’t trust Facebook with their personal data.²
78 percent will entrust certain apps — though not all — to access their geo-locale.²
60 percent of Gen Zers won’t use a website or app that’s too slow to load.⁵
62 percent won’t use a website or app that’s hard to navigate.⁵
73 percent of Gen Zers use their smartphones to text and chat with one another.⁵

How does Gen Z shop?

As of 2018, Gen Zs have approximately $143 billion in total spending power.⁶
41 percent of Gen Zers will read at least five online reviews before making a purchase.⁴
Only 15 percent of Gen Zers see themselves as shopping exclusively online in the future; 77 percent see themselves shopping in a mixture of in-store and online environments.⁷
70 percent of Gen Zers report exerting an influence on their families’ purchasing decisions.⁵
46 percent of Gen Zs follow “more than 10” social media influencers.⁴
52 percent of Gen Zs are keeping track of at least three brands on social media.⁴
Gen Zs prefer following brands on Instagram to Facebook by a 250-percent factor.⁴
Gen Z prefers following brands on Instagram twice as much as Millennials.⁴
70 percent of Gen Z remain consistently loyal to the brand of smartphone they purchase.⁴
59 percent of Gen Zers show regular brand loyalty when it comes to electronics overall.⁴
Only 38 percent of Gen Zers display the same level of loyalty to clothing brands as they would to electronics or smartphones.⁴
66 percent of Gen Zs will pay for music apps.²
31 percent will pay for game and entertainment apps..²
24 percent will pay for health and fitness apps.²
18 percent will spend money on apps that increase their productivity or provide them with some other type of day-to-day organization and/or utility.²
17 percent use apps to shop and browse.⁵
66 percent of Gen Zers stress the importance of high-quality products and services above other considerations.⁵
66 percent would rather do business at stores where “very few products” would ever be out of stock.⁵
65 percent of Gen Z shoppers want “real value” for their money — and are more inclined to purchase when offered coupons, incentives or a rewards program.⁵
56 percent stress the need for shopping experiences to “not be boring.”⁵
46 percent say the recommendations of friends and family members play a significant part in making their financial decisions.⁵

How does Gen Z consume content?

28 percent of Gen Zers subscribe to cable TV.⁵
61 percent have made the full crossover to digital streaming services.⁵
83 percent of Gen Zs watch Netflix.⁵
22 percent choose Amazon Instant TV.⁵
18 percent opt for subscribing to YouTube TV.⁵
77 percent of Gen Zs still read printed books regularly.²
54.2 percent of Gen Zers tune into livestreamed events.²
79.7 percent of Gen Zers receive their news via social media.²
54.7 percent learn about the news from apps.²
50.6 percent find out about news by watching television.²
44.3 percent receive news from digital news sites and blogs.²
19.2 percent get news updates from email newsletters.²
12.7 percent read print media to learn about current events.²
A slight majority of Gen Zers report getting their news from laptops rather than smartphone, tablets, television or any other medium.²
66 percent of Gen Zers don’t listen to podcasts.²
74 percent of Gen Zers don’t watch Facebook Live or video streaming shows.²
56 percent of Gen Zers share more videos than they share articles.⁸
72 percent of Gen Zers cite “nighttime” as being the most frequent time of day when they watch video content.⁸

How does Gen Z manage its finances?

80 percent of Gen Zers cite “a higher salary” as the principle reason they want to go to college.⁹
52 percent of Gen Zers are confident they’ll graduate from college with less than $25,000 US (or the equivalent) in accumulated debt.⁹
73 percent of Gen Z students report having a job or a “side-hustle” to help pay for expenses.⁹
Only 35 percent of Gen Z students rely on government loans to help pay for college or university.⁹
52 percent of Gen Zers don’t have credit cards.⁹
72 percent of Gen Zs have already opened either a savings or checking account by the time they graduate high school.⁹
54 percent of Gen Zers don’t plan on opening more than one bank account regardless of the incentive.⁹
25 percent of Gen Zs report that a $100 (or equivalent) incentive would give them enough impetus to open another banking account.⁹

How does Gen Z spend its free time?

74 percent of Gen Zers prefer spending time online.⁵
44 percent of Gen Zs enjoy watching non-digital TV and movies.⁵
44 percent of Gen Zers would rather be hanging out with their friends.⁵
44 percent of Gen Zers would equally enjoy spending time with their family.⁵
29 percent of Gen Zs try to earn extra money.⁵
25 percent of Gen Zs read books, magazines or newspapers.⁵
23 percent of Gen Zers take part in extracurricular activities.⁵
23 percent of Gen Zs would rather be exercising or otherwise staying fit.⁵
22 percent of Gen Zers want to learn new things.⁵
8 percent of Gen Zers spend time volunteering.⁵
6 percent of Gen Zs participate in organized group activities.⁵
When traveling, 58 percent of Gen Zers would rather stay at hotels than either AirBnb or vacation rentals.¹⁰

What are the issues Gen Z cares about the most?

Roughly 53 percent of Gen Zers agree that “personal success” is the most important thing in life.¹¹
93 percent of Gen Zers believe they're either “empowered” or “somewhat empowered” to shape "what [their] future will be".⁷
68 percent of Gen Zs are concerned about the environment.⁷
81 percent of Gen Zs are concerned about the costs of education.⁷
63 percent of Gen Zs are concerned about jobs and unemployment.⁷
35 percent of Gen Zs perceive terrorism as an important issue of its time.⁷
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70 percent of Gen Zers believe racial equality is a defining issue of their generation.¹¹
Only around 12 percent of Gen Zers trust their country’s leadership.⁷
59 percent of Gen Zers feel their voices go unheard by their country’s leaders.⁷
64 percent of Gen Zers don’t see their country’s leadership as making progress on issues that are important to them.⁷
61 percent of Gen Zs believe brands are better positioned than governments to solve social problems¹⁴
71 percent of Gen Z sees access to healthcare as being important to its future.⁷
59 percent of Gen Z is in favor of some form of gun control.⁷
57 percent of Gen Z perceives immigration as an important issue.⁷
38 percent of Gen Zs are concerned about data privacy.⁷
62 percent believe increasing racial/ethnic diversity is good for society.¹²
64 percent believe one key issue of their time is addressing gender inequality.¹¹
62 percent think tackling poverty is a driving issue.¹¹
Roughly 57 percent of Gen Zers are concerned about income inequality.¹¹
60 percent of Gen Zers want their job to impact the planet positively in some way. ³
35 percent of Gen Zers personally know someone who describes themselves using a gender-neutral pronoun.¹²
72 percent of Gen Zers plan on getting married in the future.⁷
70 percent of Gen Zs plan on having children in the future.⁷
Over half of Gen Z believes that same-sex marriage makes society better.¹²
53 percent of Gen Zers believe interracial marriage is good for society.¹²
40 percent of Gen Z feels comfortable sharing its political opinions on social media.⁷
12 percent of Gen Zers voice their political opinions by taking part in marches or protests.⁷
35 percent of Gen Zs believe marijuana should be legalized outright, while another 50 percent believe marijuana should be legalized for medicinal purposes only.⁷
Among environmental issues that are most important to Gen Zs, 85 percent cite “pollution,” whereas 87 percent cite "global warming/climate change".⁷